This small finch occurs in the mountains around Cochabamba, Bolivia, including shrub-filled ravines and Polylepis woodland.
The upperparts are grey, with rufous areas on the belly and around the eye.
It uses watered ravines with dense bushes, Polylepis and alder, mainly at about 3,000–3,800 m. It is seen alone or in pairs and forages in thick shrubs, sometimes on the ground. Seeds were the main food in eight stomach samples; insect remains were also recorded.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.